Two Girls, One Solo
" " is the twenty-third episode of the third season of Dance Moms. It first aired on June 11, 2013. Synopsis Abby's decision to have Maddie and Chloe dance the exact same solo shocks the moms and promises to finally prove who is the best dancer at the Abby Lee Dance Company. After last week's big fight, Christi and Kelly come to the realization that their friendship will never be the same again. Meanwhile, the theme of this week's group number brings out painful memories for Abby and the moms. Competition Attended POWERHOUSE in Fort Wayne, Indiana, March 16http://in10sity-dance.ticketleap.com/powerhousefw/dates/Mar-16-2013_at_1000AM Weekly Dances Summary Abby is happy about defeating Candy Apples in the previous episode. Brooke is placed at the top of the pyramid, Abby saying that it is about time she danced like a fifteen-year-old. The scheduled group dance is about cancer. Melissa discusses how her mother died of cancer. Kelly says her grandparents died of it, and her father currently is facing it. A little later, Abby also mentions her father's death from cancer. The group dance begins using a ribbon, that coils around Brooke in a way to be interpreted as sinister. Asia and Mackenzie are given different solos. Maddie and Chloe are assigned competing solos as well, but they will use identical costumes, choreography and music. Abby brings up the fight between Christi and Kelly in front of the senior company in the previous episode, and threatens expulsion from the studio if this is repeated. Upstairs the moms take their seats, with Christi now sitting on their own far right, Kelly taking her more usual position on their opposite left end. Christi and Jill hold a stake-out, looking to capture Maddie at the studio training while Chloe isn't there. She finds Gianna's and Jennine's cars parked, and sneak around to capture more evidence on video. Later, Chloe and Maddie are taught their dances in the same room. Abby does not let them watch one another, having them stand facing into a corner while the other girl performs. Christi says this reminds her of the treatment of captured victims in the horror film The Blair Witch Project. Abby comes upstairs, refers ironically to Kelly and Christi as her two favorite moms, and orders them to go dye the white ribbon pink together. Holly hopes that doing this together will get them talking and over the fight. In a bathroom, Christi and Kelly begin staining the ribbon with nothing but silence. Abby talks to all the moms and girls again about cancer. Everybody seems to raise their hand when asked if they know someone who has died from cancer, while Abby says there is a lack of dignity with the loss of control over one's own body. Everyone is emotionally distraught. Abby asks Asia who she knows that died of cancer, and Asia says it was a long time ago, but her father once had a dog that died of cancer. Along with confusion over what she was saying, this lightens the mood somewhat. At the competition, Mackenzie performs her solo, Kristie wondering how long she can rely on being cute onstage. Next it is Asia's turn. Afterwards, Abby is upset with Asia for ruining her dance by lip-synching to the music. Chloe now performs her solo. Maddie performs afterwards, falling out of a turn. Cameras change, and Maddie's smile for the judges disappears into a blank expression as she begins moving behind the curtain. Mackenzie jumps on Maddie as she approaches, wrapping her arms around her sister's neck and shoulders, Maddie stooping. Maddie lifts Mackenzie back up with her face changing with the strain, and drops Mackenzie onto her feet; then Maddie quickly gives Mackenzie a small push. Within a half second, Mackenzie has finished raising her left hand as well as swinging it to slap Maddie, a look of total delight on Mackenzie's face. Mackenzie happily follows her sister as she walks away and slaps her in the back, Maddie turns briefly to return a light slap, and then gets slapped by Mackenzie one last time. (animated gif) Melissa gives a confessional into the camera that Maddie bobbled a turn, and a camera shows Maddie telling Kendall that every single one of her turns were bad. Paige thinks of Pappy, her grandfather, because of the group dance about cancer. Christi confesses that she loves Kelly like a sister, even though sisters fight, and then kisses Kelly on the cheek. Kelly confesses that it won't be the same, but life is too short to lose friendships. At awards, the group finishes first. Mackenzie takes second place, Asia ahead in first. Maddie is second place, with Chloe awarded first. Later in the dressing room, the competition's announcer arrives, and tells everyone that Chloe's score was miscalculated, receiving a higher sub-score than possible from one of the judges, and that this would mean that Maddie would have been first. Abby had already discussed this with the people running the competition, while Christi wonders what the odds are that Chloe would have been the one person with an incorrectly calculated score. Trivia *Pyramid: **Top: Brooke **Middle: Maddie, Chloe, Mackenzie **Bottom: Paige, Kendall, Nia, Asia *Chloe initially was awarded first, but the announcer for the competition enters the dressing room and claims that her score was miscalculated, and "that means that the overall winner would have been Maddie." *The day after the show, Christi indicated on Twitter that people were incorrect to think the episode was "scripted," and that her daughter's emotions were real. Melissa tweeted that the episode was "crazy," reminding people that Dance Moms is a reality show, and "sometimes things are edited to look a certain way." *On the Friday after this episode was first broadcast, a YouTube video was uploaded by someone self-identified as "Dance Mom." The video gives the impression of amateur quality, with Abby speaking loudly through an amplified microphone to the cast assembled nearby; statements by Abby internal to the video would indicate it was filmed on Wednesday, with the topics concerning preparations for the upcoming ALDC Showcase (and corresponding episode.) Onstage with the rest of the cast, Abby states that Paige had declined an opportunity at pyramid to learn a new solo on short notice, and asks for volunteers to perform a solo new to the show, but with no one volunteering. Abby suggests that Jill do her ballroom routine from Dancing with the Celebrities of Pittsburgh; and that Maddie should do her "Survivor" routine. Later the filmed conversation returns to this topic again, and Kelly objects that drafting a volunteer is not what "dance teachers do"; Abby responds that they also don't put mothers onstage, that it's a TV show, and tells her to "Wake up!" At one point, footage seems deliberately edited, then Abby asking for volunteers again, this time Maddie raising her hand. At this, Kelly yells into the mostly empty audience: "This is a set-up... See how scripted the show is? See how scripted it is? Maddie did not volunteer, and now they're having her volunteer. Doing it again, to have Maddie volunteer. Scripted!" After some further arguing, footage shows Abby giving orders for the police to be called, and to have Kelly removed. *This is the first time Asia and Mackenzie compete against each other. *Christi and Jill discover Melissa's children do have "secret" privates. *This is the second score misplacing error, the first being Kendall and Maddie's duet actually coming in second in Liar Liar Dance Mom on Fire!. *Mackenzie's solo costume is reused from her ALDC mini group dance "Cotton Eyed Joe". Photo Gallery To view the photo gallery for " ," [[Two Girls, One Solo/Gallery|'click here']]. Video Gallery Polls Have you ever become so angry about the show that you started wishing it was cancelled? Yes No References *Very brief amateur video of Chloe and Maddie solos Category:Episodes Category:Season Three Episodes Category:Group Dances Category:Maddie Solos Category:Chloe Solos Category:Asia Solos Category:Mackenzie Solos Category:Powerhouse Category:Fort Wayne Category:Indiana Category:March Competition Category:No Trios Category:No Duets Category:1st Place Wins Category:2nd Place Wins Category:Lyrical Category:Acro Category:Jazz Category:Polls Category:2013 Episodes